Oscar nomination predictions (Photos)

"Zero Dark" will land 7 noms for picture, director, actress, original screenplay, cinematography, editing, and sound editing.I see 10 for "Les Mis" in picture, director, actor, supporting actress, production design, costume, editing, song, sound mixing and sound editing."Lincoln" leads all for picture, director, actor, supporting actor & actress, adapted screenplay, production design, cinematography, costume, editing, and score6 photosView the full slideshow »
What films, and for what categories, will come out with the most nominations?

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It’s an exciting week for the awards season, yesterday the DGA announced their slate of nominees, BAFTA announces their nominees today, and the Golden Globes are this weekend. But, the cherry on top is the announcement in the wee hours morning of Thursday of the Oscar nominations.

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View slideshow: Most oscar nominations

It has been an exciting year leading up to nominations; from the inability for one film to come out as a clear front-runner, despite a strong slate, the extremely competitive acting races (most of them), and the shortened schedule leading up to nominations. As many things seem to be in place, there is just as much if not more that could surprise. So no point in over-analyzing things at this point, just sit back and see what happens.

So here is how I think things might come out on Thursday in the major categories.

Best Picture:

Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Waiting in the wings: Skyfall

Best Director:

Ben Affleck - Argo
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper – Les Miserables
Ang Lee – Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

Waiting in the wing: David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook /Michael Haneke - Amour

Best Actor:

Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
John Hawkes – The Sessions
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

Waiting in the wings: Denzel Washington – Flight

Best Actress:

Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard – Rust & Bone
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Waiting in the wings: Naomi Watts – The Impossible

Best Supporting Actor:

Alan Arkin - Argo
Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook
Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Waiting in the wing: Javier Bardem - Skyfall

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams – The Master
Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
Helen Hunt – The Sessions
Maggie Smith – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Waiting in the wings: Judi Dench - Skyfall

When the nominations come out I will give a full report of who got in, but when all is said and done these are the films that I predict will end up with the most nominations.

Lincoln – 11
Les Miserables – 10
Zero Dark Thirty – 7
Life of Pi – 7
Argo – 6

Now all we have to do is wait for Thursday.

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, LA Film Examiner

I am a recent college graduate from Elon University where I majored in film and minored in creative writing. Movies have been my passion for as long as I can remember and I have been known to get into some heated debates over it. I have a wide taste in movies from the classics to today's...

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